Solar Impulse

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Solar Impulse
Solar Impulse SI2 pilote Bertrand Piccard Payerne November 2014.jpg
The Solar Impulse 2 (HB-SIB) 2014
Type: Solar plane
Design country:

SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland

Manufacturer:

Solar Impulse SA

First flight:

December 3, 2009

Number of pieces:

2

Solar Impulse was an aircraft project by the Swiss Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg and the name of the solar aircraft developed.

The aim of the project was to set up a communication platform for new technical , ecological and economic sciences and, after the trial phase, to construct environmentally friendly powered aircraft without using fuel . Achieving a world record was expressly not the focus.

In 2012, three years after the first flight in Switzerland, Solar Impulse HB-SIA made the first intercontinental flight of an aircraft powered by solar energy .

From May 3 to July 6, 2013, Solar Impulse flew over the United States in five stages.

A circumnavigation of the world in several stages with the HB-SIB , the second model built, was to take place from March to August 2015 . This flight had to be interrupted in July 2015 in Hawaii for about nine months. From April 21 to 23, 2016, the Pacific crossing was successfully completed with the onward flight to California. On July 26, 2016, the world tour ended successfully with the landing in Abu Dhabi.

project goal

The aim of the project is to make people aware of the need to save energy and to use and promote renewable energies . To this end, the aim is to fly around the world in order to generate appropriate attention. Launch should be in 2014 and the flight will be near the equator , but predominantly over the northern hemisphere . Five stopovers are planned. They serve to change pilots and to introduce the company to the public and representatives from politics and science. Each flight segment will last three to four days, the maximum bearable flight duration for the pilots André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard. If the weight of the batteries can be further reduced through improved efficiency, the aircraft could accommodate two pilots for long-term flights. In this way, a non-stop circumnavigation of the world would become possible.

Vision of the main initiator Bertrand Piccard

Bertrand Piccard (1999)

The project goal of constructing environmentally friendly flying motorized aircraft without using fuel came about after Piccard had successfully completed a non-stop circumnavigation of the world in the Breitling Orbiter 3 hot air balloon in 1999.

In his public appearances, Bertrand Piccard repeatedly emphasizes the visionary ambitions of the project: the reorientation of the lifestyle of the industrialized society , which irresponsibly uses the natural fossil resources of the planet. He wants to show that a responsible, sustainable energy transition is possible and imperative. With today's technology, it is already possible to cut energy consumption by more than half. The project should not only be understood as an airplane, but as an economic, environmental and scientific message and symbol, he reported to a commission of the French National Assembly .

Piccard gained a special insight after landing the non-stop balloon flight around the world in Egypt. When he saw that of the 3.7 tons of liquid gas that the balloon had on board when it took off, only 40 kilograms were left, he said he promised himself to make his next circumnavigation of the world without fuel in order to avoid the threat to be independent and safe from the limitations of fossil fuels . This dependency is a greater danger to humanity than the adventure of circumnavigating the world. After the longest leg from Japan to Hawaii across the Pacific, he emphasized that it was longer than any other single-seat flight with fuel. You can now fly longer without fuel than with. This is not only the first time in the history of aviation, but also in the history of renewable energies .

During the project, the team would like to be in regular contact with the public and especially with young people, he said at the 2009 TED conference . The project is supported by broad press coverage worldwide.

Time schedule

Concept from 2004

On November 28, 2003, Piccard and Borschberg officially announced the start of the project after a study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) had confirmed the feasibility. In 2004, Solar Impulse SA was founded . EPFL, ESA and the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation have been won as partners.

Construction of the first HB-SIA prototype began in June 2007 . Its first flight took place on December 3, 2009 at the Dübendorf military airfield .

From 2011 onwards a second prototype HB-SIB was worked on. In addition to other improvements, this should also have a pressurized cabin. Because a wing spar of the prototype broke during the last structural test in July 2012 , the schedule for the circumnavigation of the world was postponed. It has been taking place in twelve stages since March 9, 2015 - one year later than planned.

HB-SIA prototype

Solar Impulse HB-SIA

The design and construction of the first prototype with the aircraft registration HB-SIA began in 2007. The goal was to conduct the first night flight in 2010. The aircraft was completed in 2009.

construction

The HB-SIA is a cantilever four-engine shoulder- wing aircraft with a high wing extension . The span is 63.40 meters, roughly equivalent to the Airbus A340 , with a weight of only 1.6 tons. The average flight speed is around 70 km / h. The single-seat cockpit has no pressurized cabin , so the maximum flight altitude is limited to 8500 meters. Due to the high altitude, the pilot needs thermal clothing and an oxygen mask . In order to achieve the required flight performance, an extremely lightweight construction is necessary. The fuselage is a lattice framework made of plastic reinforced with carbon , aramid and glass fibers and, like the tail units and the underside of the wing, is covered with a thin plastic film, the underside of the ailerons even with just a net. The wing is made up of a box spar and 120 shaping ribs. Of the 11,628 solar cells, 10,748 are installed on the top of the wing (around 200 m²) and 880 on the horizontal stabilizer. The electric motors are mounted in four elongated motor pods under the wing and drive the low-speed, two-bladed traction propellers with a gearbox at just 200 to 400 rpm. 70 LiPo battery cells as well as their charging and monitoring electronics are also housed in each motor pod . The landing gear consists of a central, retractable main wheel on a high boom under the fuselage nacelle, two backward-folding support wheels on the wings between the motor nacelles and a fixed tail wheel at the lower end of the vertical stabilizer. Due to the very low wing loading (8 kg / m²), the aircraft is sensitive to turbulence .

Flight tests and record flights

HB-SIA lifts for the first time in December 2009 in Dübendorf from
HB-SIA approached Brussels-Zaventem Airport in May 2011
The HB-SIA at Brussels Airport

On November 6th, 2009 the prototype HB-SIA left the hangar of the airport in Dübendorf for the first time . Various electromagnetic interference tests were performed with the engines running. On November 19, the aircraft covered the first few meters on the runway on its own. The first short flight over a distance of 350 meters took place on December 3, 2009 and lasted 30 seconds.

The first extensive maiden flight followed in Payerne on April 7, 2010 . It lasted about 1½ hours and the test pilot reached an altitude of 1200 meters. The expectations were exceeded, the aircraft showed an extremely stable flight behavior.

The first day and night flight (with a flight time of 26 hours) and thus also the first night flight took place from July 7th to 8th, 2010. The Solar Impulse with pilot André Borschberg first rose to over 9,000 meters during the day and charged the batteries in the process. After sunset, it sank back to 1,500 meters at night, initially without motors, and then with the electricity from the batteries to hold the altitude until sunrise (battery charge at sunrise over 40%). The prototype thus set new records among solar aircraft . In September 2010 the prototype took off for the first time on a Swiss “city flight” away from a military airfield. He landed at the international airports of Geneva and Zurich and flew over Bern and Lucerne .

The first European flight ran in May 2011 from Payerne in Switzerland via France , Germany and Luxembourg to Belgium to land in Brussels . Some political discussions took place there, and the European Commission is the patron of the project. In June HB-SIA was a “special guest” at the Paris Air Show .

Intercontinental flight

In May / June 2012 HB-SIA undertook the first intercontinental flight over the Strait of Gibraltar . After starting in Payerne, she first flew to Madrid . On the first stage to Madrid, two more records for flight length were set in one go: 1116 kilometers.

The first intercontinental flight by a solar powered aircraft then took around 19 hours over 830 kilometers from Madrid ( Spain ) to Rabat ( Morocco ) on June 5, 2012 . The crew landed at the airport of the Moroccan capital. The visit to Morocco took place at the invitation of the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) on the occasion of the start of construction of the solar thermal power plant in the province of Ouarzazate . The plant is to deliver 500 megawatts of solar power as part of Desertec and should have started operation in 2014 at the same time as the orbit around the world. The Moroccan King Mohammed VI. is driving the Moroccan solar plan with MASEN, which provides for two gigawatts of solar power by 2020. For this purpose, the solar plane flew from Rabat to Ouarzazate on June 21 and back to Rabat on June 30, before finally flying back to Spain on July 6, 2012 in a 17-hour flight over 898 kilometers. The aircraft returned to Switzerland on July 24, 2012.

The trip to North Africa was planned as the final test mission of the HB-SIA prototype. The next flights were to be carried out with the larger HB-SIB as well as the circumnavigation of the earth planned two years later.

USA crossing flight

HB-SIA during a stopover in Phoenix (Arizona)

However, because the completion of the HB-SIB was delayed, a flight with the HB-SIA was undertaken in 2013 over the United States from the west to the east coast over 5000 kilometers (cross-country US flight) .

The stages led from Mountain View ( California ) via Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport ( Arizona ), Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport ( Texas ), Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport ( Missouri ) and Dulles International Airport ( Washington, DC ) to John F. Kennedy International Airport ( New York City ). The flight took off from San Francisco on May 3, 2013. By the end of June he had done most of the work and had reached the penultimate point in Washington.

On July 6, 2013 at 11:09 pm EDT , the Solar Impulse landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City .

The arrival after the last, around 18-hour stage, was due to a 2.5 meter crack on the underside of the left wing three hours earlier than planned. In total, the Solar Impulse was in the air for 105 hours and 41 minutes, i.e. just under four and a half days. She covered about 3000 miles, i.e. more than 5600 kilometers. On average, she was 28.8 knots fast, about 53 kilometers per hour. The HB-SIA was then dismantled in the United States and brought to the Dübendorf military airfield on August 5, 2013 with a B-747F (with a span of 64.40 m) from Cargolux and set down with 2 truck-mounted cranes. The HB-SIA is now dismantled in a hangar.

Technical data of the prototype HB-SIA

Maximum altitude 8500 m
Maximum take-off mass 1600 kg
Average speed 70 km / h
Demolition speed 35 km / h
Glide ratio 35
span 63.40 m
Hull length 21.85 m
height 6.40 m
drive four electric motors each 7.35 kW maximum power
four two-bladed propellers 3.5 m diameter
Lithium polymer batteries Dimensions 4 × 100 kg
Energy density 200 Wh / kg ≙ 720 kJ / kg
capacity 80 kWh
Photovoltaic
efficiency 		11,628 monocrystalline
rear contact solar cells,
150 micrometers thick 		22.5%

HB-SIA records

Records in the solar aircraft category , which were ratified by the international air sports association FAI after the night flight in October 2010 :

category Result
Absolute height 9235 m
Gain in height 8744 m
Flight duration 26 hours 10 minutes 19 seconds

On the 1st leg of the intercontinental flight from Payerne (Switzerland) to Madrid on May 25, 2012, two further records for flight length were recognized in the solar aircraft category .

category Result
Free route 1116 km
Route along pre-declared waypoints 1099.3 km

Solar Impulse 2 (HB-SIB)

Construction and testing

The aircraft was built from 2011 to 2014 and presented to the public on April 9, 2014 at the Payerne military airfield in Switzerland . The successful first test flight took place on June 2, 2014 with test pilot Markus Scherdel from Payerne airfield. It is better equipped for flights over the oceans, especially with regard to the possible measures that the pilot can take in the event of a problem. The payload has been increased and the cabling and electronics ( avionics ) have been made watertight so that they can fly in the rain. Thanks to redundant systems, reliability is increased, and flights of up to five days should be possible thanks to oxygen supply and other systems to support the pilot (simple autopilot). Despite larger cockpits for more freedom of movement, the equipment is relatively primitive, namely the pilot has to achieve this extreme performance in an unheated cabin without pressure compensation. With a wingspan of 72 meters, the Si2 is wider than the Boeing 747 and, thanks to its lightweight construction, is only as heavy as a mid-range car. The aircraft is equipped with 17,000 solar cells .

For the second model, new materials and manufacturing processes were developed with the partners to increase performance. There come carbon fibers , nanotechnology and a novel electrolyte for the batteries is used, which further increases the energy density. The HB-SIA was still constructed with comparatively conventional technologies.

Circumnavigation

Solar Impulse pilot André Borschberg , 2011

On January 20, 2015, the planned route for circumnavigating the Si2 was announced at a press conference at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. The Si2 flew over two oceans and four continents on her circumnavigation of the world, covering around 35,000 kilometers. The two chief developers of the project, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, replaced themselves as pilots.

planning

According to the initial planning, the circumnavigation of the world should be completed between the end of July and the beginning of August 2015. Twelve landings were planned and the journey would take five months. The command center with around 30 engineers, mathematicians and meteorologists is located in Monaco .

The Si2 should head for the Atlantic crossing from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and the last stopover at a location in Europe or North Africa, in order to land again at the starting point in Abu Dhabi. Seville , Rabat , Toulouse and Paris ( Le Bourget airport ) were given as possible destinations .

The penultimate stage was to fly from Seville to Cairo on July 11, 2016 .

course

Solar Impulse 2 , green air hoses to the batteries, repair break in Hawaii, April 2016
Solar Impulse (world)
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Muscat
Muscat
Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad
Varanasi
Varanasi
Mandalay
Mandalay
Chongqing
Chongqing
Nanjing
Nanjing
Nagoya
Nagoya
Kalaeloa
Kalaeloa
Mountain View
Mountain View
Phoenix
Phoenix
Tulsa
Tulsa
Dayton
Dayton
Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
New York City
New York City
Seville
Seville
Cairo
Cairo
Stage locations of the world tour

On January 6, 2015, the Si2 was on the Payerne military airfield in 25 parts disassembled, in the cargo hold of a Boeing 747-400 of Cargolux loaded and after Abu Dhabi accommodated. The dismantling of the Si2 took about a month. On January 19, 2015, the aircraft was reassembled.

The Si2 with André Borschberg at the wheel required 13 hours and 2 minutes for the first leg on March 9, 2015, of around 430 kilometers from al-Bateen airport in the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi to Muscat in Oman. On the morning of March 10, the Si2 set off with Bertrand Piccard at the wheel for the second stage from Muscat Airport to Ahmedabad , India, 1,465 kilometers away . The Ahmedabad Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport was achieved flight time of almost 16 hours. From there, the third flight, in which André Borschberg was at the wheel, led over a good 1000 kilometers to Varanasi Airport in India on March 18, 2015 . Bertrand Piccard flew the fourth leg from there to Mandalay Airport in Myanmar on March 19, 2015. The fifth, 1375 km long section from there to Chongqing-Jiangbei Airport in the People's Republic of China was also taken by Bertrand on March 30, 2015 in around 20 hours Piccard completed.

After almost four weeks of waiting due to unsuitable weather, André Borschberg started on June 28, 2015 shortly after 6 p.m. UTC, local time early in the morning, in Japan on by far the longest and therefore most difficult stage. The destination Hawaii is located approximately 68 degrees of longitude east and 13 degrees of latitude (in the northern hemisphere) south. The team's plan was for a 6960 km flight route over 5 days (120 h). On June 29, 2015, at 03h29 UTC, the aircraft passed the weather-related " point of no return " for this stage.

On July 3, 2015 at around 4 p.m. UTC, Borschberg landed on schedule in Kalaeloa on Oahu . With a flight time of 4 days, 21 hours 52 minutes, he surpassed Steve Fossett's record in a solo flight. He had to overcome two cold fronts over the Pacific . With holding patterns, the distance covered was 8,279 km.

On the flight from Nagoya to Hawaii, the batteries overheated and were irreversibly damaged because the heat dissipation was less than originally assumed. It took several months to replace them and improve the cooling system. At the beginning of April 2016, André Borschberg completed his first successful test flight over Hawaii after the aircraft had been repaired. On April 21, the Solar Impulse 2 took off for the next scheduled stage, the destination was the town of Mountain View ( Moffett Federal Airfield ) in California, where the plane landed after 62 hours. With the 1113 km - comparatively short 10th stage on the 2nd / 3rd May (UTC) the mountains of the Sierra Nevada were conquered - due to headwinds when passing a weather front temporarily without flight progress over the ground - and landed in Phoenix (Arizona) in darkness and wind.

After further stages, Piccard successfully landed the Solar Impulse 2 in Abu Dhabi on July 26, 2016 . On November 22, 2016, the Si2 in Abu Dhabi was disassembled in the cargo bay of a Boeing 747-400 of Cargolux loaded and Dübendorf Air Base brought. The Solar Impulse 2 is stored there until further notice.

Leg Date and time (UTC) begin target Flight
distance 		Flight duration ∅-pace (distance / duration) pilot receipt
1 March 9, 2015, 03:12 - 16:13 Abu Dhabi , UAE Muscat , Oman 441 km (238 nm) 13h 01 ' 33.88 km / h (18 kn) André Borschberg
2 March 10, 2015, 02:35 - 17:55 Muscat, Oman Ahmedabad , India 1,485 km (802 nm) 15h 20 ' 96.85 km / h (52 kn) Bertrand Piccard
3 March 18, 2015, 1:48 am - 3:03 pm Ahmedabad, India Varanasi , India 1,215 km (656 nm) 13h 15 ' 91.70 km / h (50 kn) André Borschberg
4th March 18, 2015, 11:52 pm - March 19, 2015, 1:21 pm Varanasi, India Mandalay , Myanmar 1,398 km (755 nm) 13h 29 ' 103.68 km / h (56 kn) Bertrand Piccard
5 March 29, 2015, 9:06 pm - March 30, 2015, 5:35 pm Mandalay, Myanmar Chongqing , China 1,459 km (788 nm) 20h 29 ' 71.23 km / h (38 kn) Bertrand Piccard
6th April 20, 2015, 10:06 pm - April 21, 2015, 3:28 pm Chongqing, China Nanjing , China 1,344 km (726 nm) 17h 22 ' 77.39 km / h (42 kn) Bertrand Piccard
7th May 30, 2015, 6:39 pm - June 1, 2015, 2:49 pm Nanjing, China Nagoya , Japan 2,852 km (1,540 nm) 1d 20h 10 ' 64.60 km / h (35 kn) André Borschberg
8th June 28, 2015, 6:03 pm - July 3, 2015, 3:55 pm Nagoya, Japan Kalaeloa , Hawaii , USA 7,212 km (3,894 nm) 4d 21h 52 ' 61.19 km / h (33 kn) André Borschberg
9 April 21, 2016, 4:15 pm - April 24, 2016, 6:44 am Kalaeloa, Hawaii, USA Mountain View , California , USA 4,086 km (2,206 nm) 2d 14h 29 ' 65.39 km / h (35 kn) Bertrand Piccard
10 May 2, 2016, 12:03 pm - May 3, 2016, 3:55 am Mountain View, California, USA Phoenix , Arizona , USA 1,113 km (601 nm) 15h 52 ' 70.15 km / h (38 kn) André Borschberg
11 May 12, 2016, 10:05 am - May 13, 2016, 4:15 am Phoenix, Arizona, USA Tulsa , Oklahoma , USA 1,570 km (848 nm) 18h 10 ' 86.42 km / h (47 kn) Bertrand Piccard
12 May 21, 2016, 9:22 am - May 22, 2016, 1:56 am Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA Dayton , Ohio , USA 1,113 km (601 nm) 16h 34 ' 67.18 km / h (36 kn) André Borschberg
13 May 25, 2016, 8:00 am - May 26, 2016, 12:49 am Dayton, Ohio, USA Lehigh Valley , Pennsylvania , USA 1,044 km (564 nm) 16h 49 ' 62.08 km / h (34 kn) Bertrand Piccard
14th June 11, 2016, 03:18 - 07:59 Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, USA New York City , New York , USA 265 km (143 nm) 4h 41 ' 56.58 km / h (31 kn) André Borschberg
15th June 20, 2016, 6:30 am - June 23, 2016, 5:38 am New York City, New York, USA Seville , Spain 6,765 km (3,653 nm) 2d 23h 08 ' approx. 95.10 km / h Bertrand Piccard
16 July 11, 2016, 4:20 am - July 13, 2016, 7:10 am Seville, Spain Cairo , Egypt 3,745 km (2,022 nm) 2d 2h 50 ' approx. 73.67 km / h André Borschberg
17th July 23, 2016, 11:28 pm - July 26, 2016, 12:05 am Cairo, Egypt Abu Dhabi, UAE 2,694 km (1,455 nm) 2d 0h 37 ' approx. 55.41 km / h Bertrand Piccard
overall
, including 		Total duration: 505 days =
1 year and 139 days 		Repair break:
July 3, 2015 - April 21, 2016 (293 days) 		42,438 km (22,915 nm) 23d 6h 7 ' approx. 76.04 km / h

Sponsors and partners

Sponsors and partners of the project are:

Awards

2012

2011

  • Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize as an award for outstanding achievements in the fields of technology, design, public social engagement and education
  • Watt d'Or 2011 from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy

2010

  • European Solar Prize 2010 in the Transport and Mobility category from Eurosolar
  • Prix ​​Icare 2010 of the Association des journalistes professionnels de l'aéronautique et de l'espace ( AJPAE )
  • Swiss Solar Prize 2010 in the category of personalities and institutions of the Swiss Solar Agency

Others

On the project website, which also transmits the radio communication with the pilot, the geographical flight plan for “leg 8” (started on June 28, 2015 from Japan across the Pacific) shows a shark swimming in the opposite direction, recognizable by its typical dorsal fin, in the middle of the ocean . A deeper window frame shows under the heading “Joe the shark is waiting for his dinner, watching the flight live on the website!” A comic picture with the shark underwater in front of an opened laptop with a grim look and a speech bubble “I AM FOLLOWING LIVE, YOU NEVER KNOW… ". In the light blue sky above the plane can be seen with a large wingspan and a pendulous flight path. Right in front of the plane, the yellow sun beckons with a smiley smile.

On June 29, 2015, 2 p.m. CEST, the pilot Borschberg tweeted: "I really hope Joe is not going to get me!"

See also

literature

  • The adventure of Solar Impulse. In: Kevin Desmond: Electric Airplanes and Drones: A History , McFarland, 2018, ISBN 978-1-4766-6961-8 , pp. 270-281 (English)

Web links

Commons : Solar Impulse  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Videos

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Solar plane successfully crosses the USA despite wing crack . In: Golem.de , July 8, 2013, accessed June 30, 2015.
  2. ^ Across America . ( Memento from June 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: solarimpulse.com , accessed on June 30, 2015.
  3. ↑ a b Across America. ( Memento of June 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), In: solarimpulse.com , accessed on July 8, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b c Solar Impulse HB-SIB ( memento from October 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), solarimpulse.com
  5. ↑ Presentation of the "Solar Impulse 2": Bertrand Piccard wants to circumnavigate the world with a solar plane . In: Spiegel Online , April 10, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Solar Impulse 2" lands in California after flying over the Pacific
  7. ^ Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum .
  8. ↑ Hearing of Mr. Bertrand Piccard, initiator of the Solar Impulse program in the Commission for Sustainable Development of the French National Assembly on January 19, 2011.
  9. ↑ LIVE: Solar Impulse Airplane - Landing in Hawaii - #RTW Attempt , live broadcast about the landing on July 3, 2015 in Hawaii at 5h 15m 10s
  10. ^ Bertrand Picard's solar-powered adventure. (Flash Video) TED , July 2009, accessed January 24, 2010 .
  11. ^ Press Review. ( Memento from November 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Media Coverage on YouTube.
  12. ↑ 2001–2003: Feasibility Studies. solarimpulse.com, December 31, 2003, archived from the original on January 20, 2013 ; Retrieved November 19, 2012 .
  13. ↑ Solar Impulse team builds test aircraft. Flugrevue.de, November 5, 2007, accessed June 30, 2015 .
  14. ↑ a b Without a spar - what happens next? ( Memento from March 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: solarimpulse.com on July 19, 2012.
  15. ↑ Two planes for success ( Memento from September 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ a b c The Solar Impulse. solarimpulse.com, archived from the original on June 28, 2011 ; Retrieved April 9, 2011 .
  17. ↑ "Solar Impulse" completes maiden flight . ( Memento from June 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: SWR cont.ra , April 7, 2010
  18. ↑ TheBLOG ( Memento from January 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: solarimpulse.com, April 7, 2010
  19. ↑ Spectacular landing of the Solar Impulse - cheers and tears in Payerne . In: Basler Zeitung
  20. ↑ First solar airplane passes test flight. In: dnews.de. Archived from the original on March 4, 2013 ; Retrieved April 8, 2010 .
  21. ↑ Focus on night flights ( Memento from May 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  22. ↑ «Solar Impulse» pilot Borschberg: «The peace and quiet was unique». In: SF Tagesschau . Retrieved July 9, 2010 .
  23. ↑ Solar Impulse passes the endurance test. In: NZZ Online . Retrieved July 8, 2010 .
  24. ↑ Solar aircraft completes historic night flight. In: tagesschau.de . Archived from the original on July 11, 2010 ; Retrieved July 7, 2010 .
  25. ↑ Sonnenflieger masters first night flight. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved July 7, 2010 .
  26. ↑ With the sun around the world. (No longer available online.) In: Deutsche Welle . Archived from the original on February 11, 2013 ; Retrieved July 17, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dw-world.de
  27. ↑ Touchdown of the “Solar Impulse” in Kloten . In: SF Tagesschau , September 22, 2010
  28. ↑ Solar Impulse visits Zurich . In: NZZ Online , September 22, 2010
  29. ↑ Solar aircraft landed at Swiss airports . In: Der Standard , September 22, 2010
  30. ↑ From Switzerland to Belgium with solar power . In: Deutsche Welle , May 13, 2011
  31. ↑ Solar aircraft presented in Le Bourget . ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: Tagesschau.de , June 15, 2011
  32. ^ "Solar Impulse" landed in Paris . In: NZZ Online , June 14, 2011
  33. ↑ a b Solar Impulse HB-SIA receives two new world records . ( Memento from March 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: solarimpulse.com , September 26, 2012
  34. ↑ a b Mission 2012: “crossing frontiers” . ( Memento of October 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: solarimpulse.com
  35. ↑ "Solar Impulse": Solar aircraft makes first intercontinental flight . In: Spiegel.de , June 6, 2012.
  36. ↑ Bertrand Piccard landed in Africa. golem.de, June 6, 2012, accessed on November 19, 2012 .
  37. ↑ First intercontinental flight Solar aircraft flies from Madrid to Morocco . In: Spiegel Online , June 6, 2012
  38. ↑ Solar airplane: circumnavigation of the world without a drop of kerosene . dpa June 22, 2012
  39. ↑ Video today: Sun flier landed in North Africa (June 6, 2012)  in the ZDFmediathek , accessed on February 9, 2014. (offline)
  40. ↑ The plane is getting some sun . In: 3sat-nano , June 6, 2012
  41. ^ "Solar Impulse" landed in Morocco . In: Schweizer Radio DRS , June 6, 2012
  42. ^ Sun flier landed in North Africa . ( Memento of July 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: DPA / T-Online , accessed on June 6, 2012.
  43. ↑ The 2012 Mission: Morocco . ( Memento from October 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: solarimpulse.com
  44. ↑ Flying with solar energy: «Solar Impulse» sets off on a journey to Africa . In: Spiegel Online , May 25, 2012.
  45. ↑ Swiss sun fliers faster than planned in Madrid . In: SF Tagesschau , May 24, 2012.
  46. ↑ Ouarzazate Site ( Memento of August 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), MASEN.org.ma (English)
  47. ↑ The first concentrated solar power in Ouarzazate (Morocco) will be approved shortly . In: marocco tomorrow , May 9, 2012 (English).
  48. ↑ So far, the longest flight with a manned solar airplane: Solar Impulse flies to Africa . ( Memento from June 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: SolarServer.de, May 24, 2012, accessed on July 8, 2012.
  49. ↑ Solar plane flies to Morocco. In: Golem.de , May 23, 2012, accessed on July 8, 2012.
  50. ↑ The magic of the second attempt! ( Memento of October 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: solarimpulse.com , June 22, 2012, accessed on July 8, 2012.
  51. ↑ In the heat of the night . ( Memento of October 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: solarimpulse.com, June 30, 2012, accessed on July 8, 2012.
  52. ↑ Solar aircraft returned to Switzerland . In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , July 25, 2012, accessed on July 26, 2012.
  53. ↑ Solar Impulse: Piccard landed in Rabat . In: NZZ Online , June 6, 2012.
  54. ↑ a b Confirmation of the rumors ( memento from January 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), solarimpulse.com on December 12, 2012
  55. ↑ Joe Pollicino: Solar Impulse ends cross-country US flight slightly early in NY due to torn left wing. Engadget.com, July 6, 2013, accessed July 19, 2013 .
  56. ↑ Bertrand Piccard crosses the USA with a solar airplane . In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , May 4, 2013
  57. ↑ USA crossing. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013 ; accessed on June 23, 2013 .
  58. ↑ Solar Impulse ends cross-country US flight slightly early in NY due to torn left wing. Retrieved October 20, 2013 .
  59. ↑ Solar powered plane finishes journey, lands in NYC. Retrieved October 20, 2013 .
  60. ↑ Solar Impulse ends cross-country US flight slightly early in NY due to torn left wing. Retrieved October 20, 2013 .
  61. ↑ The solar plane landed safely despite the crack in the wing. Retrieved October 20, 2013 .
  62. ↑ Solar Impulse in the stomach: This is where the giant bird takes off in Dübendorf. - Fuselage and tail unit lashed on 2 pallets with a connecting traverse (pictures 5 + 6/7) In: 20 minutes . August 5, 2013, accessed November 24, 2015 .
  63. ↑ Solar Impulse HB-SIA ( Memento from October 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), HB-SIA file ( Memento from March 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), (PDF; 1.4 MB)
  64. ↑ Circling the earth with the sun , accessed on May 2, 2011.
  65. ↑ Around the world in 20 days: “Flea jump” as a milestone for the sun flier , Fliegerrevue pp. 16–18, March 2010
  66. ↑ The FAI ratifies Solar Impulse's World Records . ( Memento of May 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: FAI.org , October 21, 2010, accessed on July 8, 2012 (English).
  67. ↑ FAI Record ID # 16560 ( Memento from November 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Free Distance along a course : 1116 km
  68. ↑ FAI Record ID # 16558 ( Memento from November 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Straight distance, pre-declared waypoints : 1099.3 km
  69. ↑ Alois Feusi: Solar Impulse 2 presented. "Dumbo" has fledged. In: nzz.ch. Neue Zürcher Zeitung , April 9, 2014, accessed April 10, 2014 .
  70. ↑ Solar energy plane: «Solar Impulse 2» started on maiden flight. In: nzz.ch. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, June 2, 2014, accessed on June 3, 2014 .
  71. ↑ Solar Airplane Solar Impulse: Around the world without fuel. In: Süddeutsche.de . April 10, 2014, accessed March 10, 2014 .
  72. ↑ Solar Impulse is controlled in Monaco. In: baz.ch. Basler Zeitung, February 12, 2015, accessed on February 22, 2015 .
  73. ^ A b Flight 14 Lehigh Valley to New York. In: solarimpulse.com. Solar Impulse SA, June 6, 2016, accessed on June 6, 2016 (English): "A Historic flight over the Statue of Liberty"
  74. ^ Q&A about the flight over the Atlantic Ocean. Solar Impulse SA, June 16, 2016, accessed on June 16, 2016 (English): "We are examining four potential destinations: Seville, Rabat, Toulouse and Paris, Le Bourget."
  75. ↑ “Solar Impulse 2” on the way to Abu Dhabi . In: moneycab.com, January 6, 2015, accessed March 10, 2014.
  76. ↑ "Solar Impulse 2": Solar plane masters the first stage of the world tour. In: Spiegel Online . March 9, 2015, accessed March 10, 2015 .
  77. ↑ "Solar Impulse 2": The world tour continues. In: DiePresse.com . March 10, 2015, accessed March 10, 2015 .
  78. ^ "Solar Impulse 2" landed in India after the second stage. In: Small newspaper . March 10, 2015, accessed March 11, 2015 .
  79. ↑ Piccard's solar plane flies over India and lands in Varanasi. (No longer available online.) In: Bieler Tagblatt. March 18, 2015, archived from the original on April 2, 2015 .;
  80. ↑ Solar Impulse 2 lands safely in Myanmar. In: Handelszeitung. March 19, 2015, accessed March 30, 2015 .
  81. ↑ Sonnenflieger “Solar Impulse 2” lands safely in China. In: WAZ. March 30, 2015, accessed March 30, 2015 .
  82. ↑ Solarimpulse, leg 8 , accessed June 29, 2015, 4:15 pm CEST.
  83. ↑ Tweet of the Solar Impulse team
  84. ↑ Leg 8/13 Nagoya to Hawaii. solarimpulse.com, July 15, 2015, accessed on July 20, 2015 (English).
  85. ^ André Borschberg Returns to the Hawaiian Skies. Solar Impulse Blog, April 1, 2016, accessed April 6, 2016 .
  86. ↑ Sonnenflieger “Solar Impulse 2” flies to California. In: Zeit Online. April 22, 2016, archived from the original on April 22, 2016 ; Retrieved April 22, 2016 .
  87. ^ Nicole Markwald: From Hawaii to California - in 62 hours. In: Tagesschau. April 24, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2016 .
  88. ↑ Landing in Abu Dhabi: “Solar Impulse 2” successfully circumnavigates the world at Spiegel Online , July 26, 2016 (accessed on July 26, 2016).
  89. ^ Abu Dhabi to Muscat. solarimpulse.com, March 9, 2015, accessed on March 31, 2015 (English).
  90. ^ Muscat to Ahmedabad. solarimpulse.com, March 10, 2015, accessed on March 31, 2015 (English).
  91. ↑ Ahmedabad to Varanasi. solarimpulse.com, March 18, 2015, accessed April 1, 2015 (English).
  92. ↑ Varanasi to Mandalay. solarimpulse.com, March 19, 2015, accessed April 1, 2015 (English).
  93. ↑ Mandalay to Chongquin. solarimpulse.com, March 30, 2015, accessed April 1, 2015 (English).
  94. ↑ Chongquin to Nanjing. solarimpulse.com, April 21, 2015, accessed on April 22, 2015 (English).
  95. ↑ Leg 7/13 Nanjing to Nagoya. solarimpulse.com, June 1, 2015, accessed on June 29, 2015 (English).
  96. ↑ Leg 8/13 Nagoya to Hawaii. solarimpulse.com, June 28, 2015, accessed on June 29, 2015 (English).
  97. ↑ Leg 9/13 Hawaii to Phoenix. solarimpulse.com, June 28, 2015, archived from the original on June 2, 2015 ; accessed on June 29, 2015 .
  98. ^ "Solar Impulse 2" landed in Silicon Valley. In: nzz.ch. April 24, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2018 .
  99. ^ Flight 10 San Francisco to Phoenix. solarimpulse.com, May 2, 2016, accessed on May 2, 2016 (English).
  100. ^ Flight 11 Phoenix to Tulsa. In: solarimpulse.com. Solar Impulse SA, May 21, 2016, accessed on May 21, 2016 (English): "The calm after the tornado"
  101. ^ Flight 12 Tulsa to Dayton. In: solarimpulse.com. Solar Impulse SA, May 21, 2016, accessed on May 21, 2016 (English): "Flying back in time to the heart of aviation"
  102. ^ Flight 13 Dayton to Lehigh Valley. In: solarimpulse.com. Solar Impulse SA, May 24, 2016, accessed on May 24, 2016 (English): "Gently Approaching New York City"
  103. ^ Flight 15 New York to Seville. In: solarimpulse.com. Solar Impulse SA, June 20, 2016, archived from the original on June 23, 2016 ; accessed on June 23, 2016 (English): "The Atlantic Crossing"
  104. ^ Flight 16 Seville to Cairo. In: solarimpulse.com. Solar Impulse SA, July 10, 2016, accessed on July 10, 2016 (English): "Solar Impulse's second to last flight on the round-the-world!"
  105. ↑ Flight 17 Cairo to Abu Dhabi. In: solarimpulse.com. Solar Impulse SA, July 16, 2016, accessed on July 16, 2016 (English): "The Last Flight of the Round-the-World Solar Flight"
  106. ^ Project and Round-the-World Partners. Solar Impulse SA, accessed on May 2, 2016 (English, partner in May 2016).
  107. ↑ Prize winner 2012 with video and biography , UNEP
  108. ↑ Bertrand Piccard receives the United Nations Champion of the Earth Award . In: solarimpulse.com , June 5, 2012.
  109. ↑ LEAP Aero 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award . ( Memento of July 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: lindberghprize.org .
  110. ↑ Winner of the Watt d'Or 2011 . ( Memento from January 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: BFE.de , January 6, 2011, accessed on March 10, 2014.
  111. ↑ Acknowledgment of SOLAR IMPULSE SA ( Memento of December 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: Eurosolar , December 10, 2010.
  112. ^ Le Prix Icare National ( Memento from July 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  113. ↑ Swiss Solar Prize 2010 : Solar Impulse Piccard / Borschberg, Lausanne / VD (PDF; 102 kB), Solar Agency Switzerland .